Pours an opaque black with a nice tuft of graham cracker brown head. Fades into thick film with some patchy lacing on the glass.

Somewhat muted in the nose, lighter roasted malts, vanilla and oak with some chocolate sweetness and faint hops.

Some hop bitterness right up front, followed by some roasted dark malts. Bittersweet dark chocolates integrated with rawer vanilla bean flavor and underlying coffee. Oak somewhat smooths out the profile, adding some earthy tones. Finishes with hop bitterness and chocolate.

Fuller medium body, high carbonation, a bit dry and tingly on the tongue, which I usually don't prefer for this style. This drinks okay, the alcohol is a bit lower which was nice, but not really what I'm looking for from an oak aged vanilla bean stout. (829 characters)

Aggressive pour gets you about a finger's worth of brown head, loose, semi-dilute foam gone lickety-split, gauzy sheets of lacing slowly slide down the glass. Onyx black liquid, nary a trace of color to be found. Vanilla certainly there in the nose, fudge-like, milk chocolate, coffee ice cream, minor touch of grains and baking dough, lacks the second tier of scents to display full expressivity. Medium-bodied, comes across as too dry and fluffy to make a direct impression, the carbonation gives it a soft and feathered texture. The dryness highlights the coffee bean to espresso and darkens the chocolate flavors, nuttier and higher overall roast. The vanilla more powdered here but maintains a strong presence. No true calling card offered by the hops. Never fully soaks into the tongue, however, lingers as a whole. Wonder where the beef is here. (852 characters)

Pours an opaque dark brown, almost black in color with a monster, loosely knit brown head leaving some soapy sticking on the glass. Monster head? Barrel aged? Oh wait a minute, only oak chips were used... There is a much larger citrusy hop profile in the nose that i had expected, faint notes of caramel malt and roasted chocolate. Light in body, hardly any chew going on, simple roasted chocolate malts and some hints at roasted coffee beans. The carbonation is insane, the way over-the-top carbonation hurts its body and mouth-feel. Subtle notes of vanilla, sweet wet wood and lemony sourness on the finish. This one was a disappointment. Maybe put the beer in a barrel next time? (722 characters)

An oily ink black body sits beneath a small, less than one-finger brown cap. The head rose and fell quickly, leaving no lace behind whatsoever. The nose is fairly tame. Mild roast and vanilla beans with some american oak tannins cutting through. Dark fruits and some cocoa powder rounding out the aroma. The flavor profile mimics the nose. Tame, mild roast that never really approaches bold or robust. Vanilla bean sweetness peeks out in the finish, accompanied by dry, toasted oak. On the lighter side of medium, watery in spots. The oak and vanilla beans are the real bright spots here, but this guy just lacks some body. (658 characters)

Kind of an over-all flat experience for a beer. Poured very black in color. Held it up to the light and could not any flicker to appear through the beer. There was absolutely no head, and I tried to get one with two bottle. The aroma came across as burnt malts. Dark chocolate and smokiness was very present in the flavor. Vanilla too. The mouthfeel is very heavy and filling. Very dense. Drank it with some chocolate fondue and it was a decent complement. While still drinkable, it is not particularly jumping across to me as "GREAT!!!" but still worth giving a shot.

Late addition: Got a great head with the third bottle and it was starting to grow on me too. (664 characters)

The barrel aging is evident in the aroma with strong smells of oak, vanilla, and char. The oak comes through some in the flavor, as well, but it's different than bourbon barrel aged beers. Initially, there is an interesting sweetness, but the charred wood and smoke cut through. A dry, boozey finish provided by the 6% ABV.

It's good, but not quite great. I think for something boasting oak aging, I want more of that flavor. (426 characters)

Got for take out from Mesquito Grille. I'm glad it caught my eye on the way out.

APPEARANCE: Pours into a shaker pint black and dark. When held to light, brown highlights barely come out. The light tan one-finger head drops very quickly and becomes splotchy bubbles and a good size collar.

SMELL: Not so roasty, but black burnt malts are prominent. Alcohol comes out as does a little bit of oak. Very faint aromas of brown sugar and diacetyl. Smells very porter-like.

TASTE: Similar to the smell, but seems lacking in some way. Porter-like flavors dominate with very vague oak hints. From start to finish, it seems quite empty, especially from a stout.

MOUTHFEEL: Thin for a stout and carbonation is very low. Disappointing.

DRINKABILITY: If you want this as a porter, it's not too bad. It certainly does not drink like a stout. The 5.2% ABV is kind of nice too.

Hmm, I hope I didn't get a bad bottle. I'll look for it again and give it another try. (967 characters)

Poured a mostly opaque black with some brown showing aroune the edges. No head and no lacing. The smell is mostly lightly scented with vanilla and a touch of grain. The flavor is very smooth and light with some light roastiness and detectable vanilla, but not a lot more going on. Very, very smooth mouthfeel- you could just suck this down like a glass of milk. Not the most interesting stout in the world, but refreshing for the style. (436 characters)

From the original Ashburn brewery. Decided to pick up a few when I heard they were closing.

Bottled: 040809

A: near opaque, deep rosey-black color, thick dense headS: leather, roasted malt, faint treacle toffee, niceT: a not in-your-face barrel stout but noticeable barrel aging, held up well for the lower ABV and 1.5 years in the bottle, burnt chocolate/licorice taste with nice hop balance that is not too bitter for its style, a bit thin but not too distracting, decent beerM: nice, a bit thinD: drinkable, well-made but doesn't have any outwardly incredible tastes that would have me wanting to drink more than two in one sitting (641 characters)

Pours out black with very slight ruby highlights around the edge and only one finger of a light-tan head.

The aroma is roasty notes, chocolate and some earthy/grassy hop notes.

Just like in the aroma, the taste follows suit with the roasty malt notes, some chocolate, a very subtle touch of oak and a lot of grassy/earthy hop notes. It's fairly bitter and has a decently dry finish to it.

The mouthfeel is slightly creamy and the body is on the light side for a Stout.

This is a decent Stout, but nothing that blows me away. It has typical characteristics of a traditional Stout, but not much else going for it. Worth trying and not a bad beer, but nothing great either. (713 characters)

Review is from notes taken on 12/23/2009. Poured from the bottle to a snifter and thanks to Mkroadrush for the trade!

Appearance: Pour is black and looks a little viscous; starts with a 1/4 finger dark brown head that fades immediately to a thin ring around the sruface and a faint whisp in the center; hard to see if there is any carbonation as the body is entirely opaque; a few spots and swaths of lacing here and there.

Smell: Sweet vanilla/oakiness combines with a mild chocolatey smell and a nice burnt roasty maltiness, not much unlike espresso.

Taste: Very "thin" and doesn't really match up with what I see and smell in the glass; it does have a firm roastiness and a nice bitterness from the burnt roasty malts and a slight earthy hoppiness; the roastiness is a little reminiscent of espresso as mentioned in the smell and there is an ever-so-slight semi-sweet chocolate flavor as well.

Mouthfeel: Solid carbonation for a stout; body is a just a tad thin, but I find that's not uncommon for anything that spends some time in a barrel; no real coatin or stickiness left behind but I appreciate that carbonation as it keeps an otherwise kind of bland tasting stout lively in the mouth.

Drinkability: Meh. Nothing special - nice smell, but the flavors are weak and I really prefer something much more robust in my stouts. (1,335 characters)

Pours a black with a pretty big tan head that leaves pretty good lacing. The nose is of roasted malt, sweet vanilla, and coffee. The taste is strong of vanilla, with a healthy dose of coffee and some roasted malt. Its a little to sweet for me, and not one of the best stouts ive had, but an alright beer and definitely worth trying. Nice creamy mouthfeel but not extremely drinkable. (383 characters)

A lot of people love this beer. To me (and others agreed), it tasted like half Guinness and half whiskey. The Guinness taste is, of course, because it's a stout. And the whiskey flavor is due to the oak barrel. This is great for those who enjoy whiskey, but I simply don't enjoy that flavor. So this beer just isn't for me. (323 characters)

This review is for the Dominion Oak Barrel Stout in a 12oz bottle and served in a tall glass. This beer is a nice dark brown/black... you can't see through it. What I got from this beer was a bunch of oak, vanilla, chocolate, and coffee bean in that order. If you are into those sort of notes, you will probably like this sort of beer. I'm figuring out that this isn't my style of beer. Not a big fan of beers like this. I figured I'd give this a try. Again, you might really like it if you are into these sort of flavors. (522 characters)

The aroma is almost prototypical for the style. It has coffee, chocolate, burnt malt, and a hint of vanilla. The appearance is dark brown with a larger than average head for a stout. The flavor is like the aroma. The palate is a tad thin but OK. Overall it's a decent stout. (274 characters)

A super dark brown pour, light tan head that rises about two fingers, gone quickly. Light lacing...Light aroma, combo of vanilla, coffee, and alcohol...The taste comes out of nowhere, no idea it would be this vanilla from the aroma. Dominated by vanilla on the front, but on the finish its dull bitter coffee and alcohol and wood. The finish is also very chalky, a residual powder feel which is not nice. Very alcoholic for a 5% beer.

Overall, this is a big miss. The first sip is nice vanilla but after that its all downhill. The vanilla disappear and you get a powder feel. (640 characters)

Revisited 03-28-15 after initial review last August.Bottle dated 02-18-15 (this puppy is fresh) into pint glass. I'd call it a ruby brown - not red, but not brown either. Thick light tan head of coarse bubbles reduces to a thin and long-lasting film. Taste is, unfortunately, underwhelming. Vanilla and dark malt initially, then...nothing. It's way too thin for a stout. Too much carbonation. As a result, it's not as smooth as I'd expect.There are a lot of really good stouts out there. This isn't one of them. (523 characters)

Bought this stout off the shelf and slowly cooled to 57*F. bottled stamp date: 5-30-07. Chose a (clean)snifter in anticipation of a heavy aroma to enjoy. It poured dark with 1/4" head. Sat so dark in the glass that you cannot see light through it-at all! Aroma was of smokey burnt wood with a sweet caramel background. I expected more with the taste based upon the prelude. The taste was toasty/nutty with a bitter aftertaste. I couldn't get away from the bitterness throughout the beer and seemed to intensify as it warmed. Mouthfeel was surprisingly smooth and clean for such a dense beer. Overall, I expected more. The head completely dissapeared 1/2 way through and the flatness prevailed. I didn't sense any of the vanilla in the taste either which I would've liked. I would drink this again but not back to back. I'll pair one bottle with food next time. (861 characters)

There's really only one shade of black and this is that shade. A deep color that no light can penetrate. Small light brown head thins to a crown quickly.

Aroma is charred malts with some chocolate notes and mild woodiness. With all the label promises (hops, vanilla beans, etc.) I expected more from the nose.

Flavor is toasted dark bread mingling with dark baking chocolate and a bitterness that works well with the woodiness. I didn't pick up the vanilla flavor, and throughout most of the session I found this to be almost all roast without much depth. Oak is barely noticeable in the finish, with the bitterness of old, dusty dark chocolate trailing behind.

Silky smooth feel, though maybe a tad too much carbonation and probably a little thin overall.

Unspectacular yet it has a few things to offer. Not the best of the many oak-aged stouts out there, but worth a shot. I think the label promises too much... (936 characters)

First one from Dominion that I have really liked. 12 oz bottle with freshness date of Aug 19, 04.

Pours a dark used oil color, but not as thick as some stouts I have tried. A thick rocky head that is tan in color accentuates the top. Lace is thick and clings to the entire glass in nice patterns.

The aroma is week, imo. Chocolate and coffee like. The taste is mildly coffee-like with chocolate undertones. There is a very distinct metallic aftertaste that I have not noticed in other stouts. I am not sure where this comes from, but would like to compare the bottle to an on tap glass.